Laundry ironing and pressing apparatus



Dec. 1, 1931. 'A, ADAMS 1,834,365

LAUNDRY IRONING AND PRESSING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 26., 1928 IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 1, 1931 r- FIC E FATE - ARTHUR, H. ADAMS, or LAGRANGE, ILLINOIS, AssIGNO TO TROY LAUNDRY MA- CHINERY COMPANY, nc, F newYORK, N. Y.,YA CORPORATION on DELAWARE LAUNDRY IRoNIivG AND rnnssnvenrrARA'rUs Application filed January 26, 1928. Serial No. 249,684.

This invention relates to laundry apparatus and in particular to laundryironing machines employing heated ironing surfaces and cooperatingironing rolls.

In ironing machines of the above noted character it is the usualpractice to provide the ironing roll with a resilient padding in orderthat varying thicknesses of garments may be properly ironed. Heretoforethis padding has taken the form of either layers of compressible fabricssuch as felt, canvas, cork or the like, or paddings using metalresilient members such as springs, shavings or o the like have beenemployed. However,

even with paddings of the spring type it has been found necessary tocover the padding with a layer of cloth fabric to bridge the spacesbetween the springs or in order to give uniform resiliency to thepadding, and

also to prevent the garments from coming into contact with the paddingproper. It has been found in practice that these prior paddingsemploying a cloth or fabric covering have the serious disadvantage ofbeing absorbent, and in the case of felt pads, after continued use, thepad mats or hardens with resultant charring and requires frequentreplacement, which process is laborious and time-consuming. Furthermorewith resilient paddings employing fabrics it has been necessary toprovide special means for drying out the padat relatively frequentintervals, either by means of blowers or suction apparatus or even byspecial heating means.

' In the case of ironing machines of the fixed steam chestandcooperating roll type this disadvantage is to a degree ameliorated byallowing the damp garments to come in contact with only a portion of theironing roll, so that the roll is used for actual ironing during only arelatively small portion of each rotation, the remaining 'part of eachrotation enabling the roll'padding to become parvtially dry. As a resultof this arrangement it has been the practice to provide for each ironingmachine a plurality of successively effective ironing rolls and acorresponding number of heating chests in order that any one rollpadding may not have to absorb an undesirable amount of moisture fromthe damp garments.

Accordingly it is a primary object of the present invention to providean ironing machine of the heated chest and cooperating roll type,wherein damp garments may be completely ironed by using fewer rolls thanhas heretofore been found practicable.

It is another object of the invention to provide an ironing machinewhich can be manufactured economically, assembled readily, and achievessubstantially equally efficient results as ironing machines employing agreater number of rolls and heating'chests.

A feature of the invention pertains to the combination of a novelresilient padding and a heating chest in an ironing machine, whereby thestructure of the padding is such that the chest may surround the majorportlon of the ironer roll without affecting the resiliency of thepadding.

A still further feature has reference to a heating chest for a laundryironing machlne which is adjustable to suit the ironing roll with whichit is to be used. 7

Another feature is concerned with-the combination of a roll having aresilient padding and a chest having a metal plate ironing surfacepreferably of non-corrosible material.

Other'features and advantages not specifically enumerated will beapparent after a consideration of the following description and theappended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of a portion of an ironing machineembodying a padded ironing roll and adjustable heating chest accordingto the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1 withthe guiding plates removed.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of an ironing machine employingcast steam chests of known type and embodying the inventive concept.

For the purpose of enabling a clear understanding to be attained of onemode of practising the invention the same is disclosed as applied to anironing machine of that construction which is familiarly'known as aflatwork ironer. The machine comprises a roll 1 which is preferablyconstructed of thin material providing substantially no obstruction tothe passage of steam or vapor therethrough, for example, a strong wirenetting wrapped in the form of a cylinder may be employed, or the rollmay take the form of a lattice or grill-like metal structure, the objectbeing to provide a base for the roll padding which offers minimum ofobstruction to the passage of steam or vapor. This base or roll may bemounted on a plurality of spiders 2 at intervals along the length of theroll for supporting said roll and imparting radial strength thereto.Spiders 2 are appropriately fastened to the shaft 3 for rotationtherewith, said shaft being mounted in suitable bearings and connectedto a source of motive power for driving the shaft and roll at therequired speed.

Roll 1 is provided with a resilient padding and covering preferably ofthe character disclosed in copending application Serial No. 245,180,filed January 7, 1928. Said padding comprises in the main a convolutedspring 4 having the individual convolutions permanently skewed orinclined at an angle to the spring axis. The skewed spring is wrappedhelically around the surface of the roll 1 and has its ends fastened toprevent unwinding. A covering 5, preferably of very fine mesh metalliccloth wrapped around'the spring padding and the ends of the covering areunited in any suitable manner, the preferred covering and manner ofuniting the ends being disclosed in application Serial No. 245,180,filed January 7, 1928, to which reference may be had for furtherdescription. As pointed out in said application it may be desirable toemploy more than one layer of spring padding in which case there will bealternate layers of springs 4 and coverings 5 superposed upon eachother. The outstanding features of this type of spring padding arefirst, thatit may be designed to give any desired resiliency byproportioning the size and spacing of the spring convolutions. Second,it does not require the use of thick cloth or fabric coverings whichabsorb moisture and become matted. Third, it is highly pervious andoffers substantially little obstruction to the passage of steam or watervapor therethrough. Fourth, it is non-absorbent and capable ofconducting enough heat from the steam chest to prevent condensation onits interior. As a result of ti ese characteristics it is possible tomake use of nearly the entire periphery of the padded roll for theironing operation. Accordingly, as shown in Fig. 1, there is provided aheating chest that surrounds the greater part of the periphery of theironing roll 1. While any well-known form of heating chest may beemployed, it is preferbale to employ a chest of the general structure asthat disclosed in co-pending application Serial No. 249,683, filedJanuary 26, 1928. However, various modifications must be made in orderto adapt such a chest for use in accordance with the invention. As shownin Fig. 1, the chest comprises an ironinn; face 6 of sheet metalpreferably non coi'rosible and capable of assuming and retaining a highpolish, for example that metal sold under the trade name Monel. Thisplate is formed to the general curvature of the roll 1 and is ofsufficient length and width to surround nearly the entire peripheralsurface thereof. Attached to the rear or non-iron ing face of plate 6 isa heating unit comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending pipes7 connected, preferably in series, by appropriate manifolds representedby the U- bends 8, it being understood that the pipes are sointerconnected and disnosed as to conform to the curvature of plate 6;The assembled heating unit is then united by a good thermal conductor toplate 6, this union being preferably effected by tack-welding each pipeto plate 6 through the intermediary of bronze or similar metal.

The inlet end 9 of the heating unit or coil is connected to a source ofheating fluid such as steam under pressure, while the opposite end 10 isclosed. The lowermost pipes are connected to a suitable trap 11 topermit any condensation within the pipes to drained by gravity. Thenumber and size of the pipes making 'up the heating coil may bedetermined by the amount of heat that must be transferred to the rolland padding in order to vaporize any moisture that may tend to collecttherein and also in accordance with the degree of resistance totemperature changesthat may be required of the heating chest as a whole.

In order to increase this resistance the heating unit may be enclosedwithin a casing comprising the flexible metal plate 12 of the samegeneral shape as the plate 6 and having its ends securely attached tothe longituoinally extendingchannel bars 13 which are preferably weldedat their lower ends to the rear of plate 6. The chest formed by plates6-and 13 and the channel members 15 may be packed with any suitable wellknown heat insulating materials 14 such, for example, asasbestos and thelateral ends of the chest closed to hold the packing by turning down theends of plate 12, or in any other suitable manner.

Rigidly attached to the main frame of the machine and extendinglongitudinally thereof in the rear of members 13 are bars 15 throughwhich pass the chest adjusting screws 16. These screws pass looselythrough members 15 and are provided with fiat ends 17 and nuts 18 forholding the screws in their adjusted position. Nuts 19 and 20 are alsoprovided for holding the adj usting screws in their adjusted positionwith respect to bars 15. Thus, by looseningnuts 19 and 20 and turningscrew 16 the chest may be drawn more tightly around the roll. Heretoforein ironing machine employing a stationary heating chest it has been thepractice to form the chest out of cast iron or similar heavy metal witha longitudinal bore for p the heating fluid. Such chests are expensiveto manufacture, must be accurately machined, are of very great weight,and liable to become warped when subjected to wide temperaturevariations. A chest such as that shown in the drawings being made fromrelatively thin sheet metal is inexpensive and light in weight.Furthermore, such a chest while in place about the ironing roll may beadjusted according to the degree of pressure required for ironing simplyby turning the members 16.

In operation the roll is rotated in the direction of the arrow and thegarments are fed in at the left preferably by an apron conveyer to theroll which carries them around at the same time that they are subjectedto heat and pressure. If desired, suitable guide plates 21 and 22 may beprovided to prevent the entering garments interfering with those leavingthe ironer. Because of the close proximity of the heating unit to theactual ironing surface 6 and because of the nonabsorbent character ofthe padding 4: the said padding is at all times maintained at asufficiently high temperature to cause any moisture that may beliberated from the garments to be vaporized, whereupon such vapor passesfreely into the interior of the roll which may be closed at the ends toprevent chilling and condensation. It will be noted that the garmentsare carried around by the roll in such a direction as to mostefficiently utilize the heat from the steam coil. That is, the end 10 ofthe coil being closed, the steam which is forced into the coil will havea temperature gradient which is maximum at the point of entry of thegarments, and minimum at the end 10 where the garments emerge, thusenabling the heating means to be most effective where it is required,similarly to the counter flow idea in the art of boiler construction.

Fig. 3 shows another embodiment of the invention employing a pluralityof separate cast steam chests of the conventional type. While only twosections of chest are shown in this figure it is obvious that any othernumber of sections may be employed so long as the chests when inposition surround as much of the roll as is consistent with convenienceof feeding and removing the garments from the ironer. As shown in Fig.3, the roll 1 is of the same character as the roll of Fig. 1 and isprovided with the same resilient padding l and covering 5. The uppersection 9.3 and lower section 24 of the. steam chest are economizing infloor space because if a single.

chest is employed which surrounds the great 7 or part, of the ironingroll it would be neces:

sary to place the roll in position endwise.

While in the .-drawings only that portion of anf ironing machine hasbeen disclosed which is'necessary to anunderstanding of I the invention,it will be understood that the details of mounting the steam chests androlls, etc. may be such as are well known to the art. Various changesmay be made from the exact embodiment shown without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, for example, instead of using steamas the heating fluid any other efficient heating fluid may be employed.Similarly while in the drawing the steam chest is shown as surroundingalmost 90% of the peripheral surface of the roll it will be understoodthat the relative sizes of the roll and steam chest may be variedsomewhat, the essence of the invention residing in the cooperation whichexists between the efficient heating characteristics of the steam chestand the novel padding whereby a much greater portion of the roll may besurrounded than has heretofore been found practicable.

What I claim is: r

1. In combination a steam chest for an ironing machine having a sheetmetal wall of a non-corrosible metal capable of retaining a high polish,a heating pipe coil unit united by materials of high thermalconductivity to the said wall, and means for adjusting the curvature ofsaid wall.

2. In an ironing machine, an ironing roll,

a non-absorbent uniformly permeable resilient padding for said roll anda continuous metal ironing surface surounding the major portion of saidroll.

3. An ironing machine in accordance with claim 2 wherein the padding isentirely metallic.

l. An ironing machine in accordance with claim 2 wherein the rollsurface which supports the padding, is of perforated metal.

5. In an ironing machine, an ironing roll, a non-absorbent permeableresilient padding for said roll and a continuous metal ironing surfaceenclosing the major portion of said roll.

6. In an ironing machine, an ironing roll comprising a hollow perforatedcylinder having a non-absorbent permeable, resilient padding, and acontinuous metal ironing surface surrounding the major portion of thesurface of said roll.

7. In an ironing machine, an ironing roll comprising a perforatedcylinder having a non-absorbent, permeable, resilient padding, and acontinuous steam chest completely enclosing the major portion of theperiphery of said roll.

8. An ironing machine inaccordance With claim 7 wherein the resilientpadding is constructed of metal of high heat conductivity and has massenough to hold suificient heat received from said chest to prevent thecondensation of steam in saidpadding.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, this21st day of January, 1928.

ARTHUR H. ADAMS.

